I may be on my own there but I HATE it. But then I am no fan of crate to be honest. My boy only has a canvas one for the night and it looks pretty enough for our bedroom
Also the sizing charts on that website are a bit frightening..the dog has barely the space to lift his head up and will probably struggle to turn around...no good if people are planning on closing the door on the poor thing...

I kind of understand people wanting nicer looking cages but my personal (and maybe totally unfounded) worry is that doing so will make people forget that at the end of the day they are cages - if the animal is not locked in then great but then there are loads of ways to integrate a den like thing to the surroundings - but if the animal is locked in it I think its important people realise that it may be pretty but it is still a cage..

Just my opinion though

i think its a brill idea there should be more of that stuff here!! i wud defintly invest in one...but not at 250 would if were cheaper!

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Ok this is a very rough, very basic (cos I can't draw in Paint) version of what I was thinking of... something really simple (and similar to the US ones but cheaper and over here!)
What do you think?

Attached Images

dog crate cover design.jpg (22.8 KB, 7 views)

I would avoid using MDF because it is a fibre board made from compressed sawdust and bonded together with glue, it may be toxic and it is definately distructable when you add dog spit!! Also MDF is very heavy and relatively expensive. Pop to a local timber merchants (or BnQ) to get an idea of what types of sheet timber are available - if you wanted to paint it, would you consider plywood for eg?

The design is simple enough and you could make that with ease. Could I suggest that the ratio of slats to wood is increased though, so that the dog isn't living in so much of a cave! Perhaps you could incorporate slats or blinds that close when your dog is having 'secure den' time?!

Are you going to do it then??

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Some days you're the dog: some days you're the lampost

When I feel blue, I start breathing again

Def gonna have a chat with my cousin, who is a redundant chippie at the moment... and see about getting one made up. Once we've done it will post some pics up, and then see if anyone else is interested

Didn't think about that with the mdf, but good point. And yes was thinking lots of slats (just couldn't draw them all ) loving the blind idea!!

From feedback that I have seen on some (think it was the orvis) website I think a cover rather than a total crate is a better idea to prevent chewing - even Daisy who is (touch wood) an angel when it comes to chewing can't resist wood at times - figure if it is a cover then it can't be "gotten to" in the same way... tho if you have removeable door and bottom then if someone really wanted to use as actual crate then they could.

Have you seen the cavas covers you can buy for crates? I have one, it's like a fitted tent - cavans panels, with mesh windows and roll down plastic covers for the mesh windows. It all zips around snuggly....

How about getting the sewing machine out and rustling up some unique ones, more basic, doesn't have to be waterproof for eg - you could sell those on ebay because p&p would be a song! Think of all the funky fabrics out there!

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Some days you're the dog: some days you're the lampost

When I feel blue, I start breathing again

I have seen them, they look nice. Good plan, although I'd need to learn to sew in a straight line first LOL See if I can dust off my home ec notes from way back when.
The thing that started all this is that Daisy's crate is in the front room, next to the sofa, and covered in a blanket over the top and ends up getting used as a side table - oops! Plus we are getting another puppy soon, and the logical place to put his crate is on the other side of the sofa, and I just figured why not get something to actually make the crate functional for us as well as the dog, and hopefully look a lot better too.
Couldn't believe there was virtually no choice in the UK and definitely nothing at the lower budget end, plus the ones that were available had loads of feedback like too small, got chewed in seconds, too dark etc etc
Figure there must be loads of other people looking for the same sort of thing - especially when you see some of the random crap that gets sold for dogs (the amount of stuff I got sucked into as a new first time puppy owner!!)

love your signature by the way

Hey if you dont try you would never know!!!!!!!its worth a consideration perhaps?

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id rather pay £40 for a normal crate!!!

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